Two Dell laptops "Media Disconnected" simultaneously

Time-Warner upgraded our system, and that meant replacing their modem and my wireless router with their modem/router -- a Motorola that support b/g/n. We went from 15 Mb/sec to 50, but not without one problem. My wife's new Inspiron laptop running Win 7 connects without problem, and initially a Studio laptop running Vista SP2 and an Inspiron notebook running XP Pro SP3 did as well, although data speeds were not too good because the internal antenna in the Motorola do not have the range that the external ones on my Linksys does. Suddenly, both stopped connecting. They see the wireless nework, but can't connect (security is WPA2-PSK).

The only problem I've found is both respond with Media Disconnected when using ipconfig in Command box. I've tried all the fixes I can find, but nothing seems to work. It has to be related to the new modem...both have the same issue at the same time? I've unplugged the modem but that doesn't help, and I find no settings that account for any issue. Both the laptop and notebook have always connected reliably. They are both (as far as I know) 802.11g, not 8012.11n.

Of course, Time-Warner wants to fix the issue, but in the week since upgrading, the one tech who came out to fix the issue was mystified. I'm going to have someone with more experience with wi-fi out from them next, but this seems like something I should (and must) fix.

The first link won't help because the issue isn't about getting on the Internet but simply connecting to AP (modem/router). The second looks more promising. I'll run it tomorrow morning. The firewall is in Zone Alarm Extreme (Windows firewall is off on every computer) and the modem/router DHCP IP is a trusted zone. I've used this software firewall (many versions) for so many years I can't remember when i didn't use it. Anti-virus is Zone Alarm and Super Anti-Spyware. I've used many otheers, but these two are compatible and more reliable than any I've tried, and have been on both laptop and notebook (and desktop) from the beginning.

Not sure the final suggestion will work. A common aspect to Media Disconnected is that ipconfig commands cannot be processed because of the issue itself. I've looked at dozens of threads on this, and the solutions are numerous depending on the specific circumstances. I've tried many of the suggested remedies, but nothing worked. Even uninstalling and reinstalling WLAN card drivers didn't have any effect. Updating Dell drivers didn't help either.

We recently had problems with McAfee. The first article also included an update from Windows at the same time.

Zone Alarm your ip addresses need to be added to the safe zone. There is a feature that will stop all internet activity in the settings of zone alarm. I haven't used zone alarn for a while, since one of their updates disabled my wireless adapter.

In all the years I've had to find solutions to any number of Windows-related issues, there was always a solution waiting to be found. And this is the case with this issue, but not the one I had expected. Having read dozens of threads on this topic and trying all the potential solutions, including the many you provided here, the search for an answer became circular. i was seeing the same advice in different places, including Microsoft. So as I was reading a rather long thread this morning, I saw two things that made me reevaluate my approach. One was that this is not an uncommon problem -- this being media disconnected -- but in more than a few cases no "solution" ever worked, and the other was that the original poster of the problem eventually bought a LAN card and circumvented the hardware in his laptop.

So I did some research and discovered a large number of USB 802.11n WLAN products on the market now. I purchased identical Netgear versions of these mini-USB WLANs, installed the drivers on the laptop and notebook, inserted the hardware, pushed a button on each one, then the WPS button on the modem/router, and a couple minutes later I was connected. Done. Of course, the internal antenna on the Motorola moden/router is close to useless beyond a dozen feet, so that it an issue for Time-Warner to solve, and they will end up reimbursing me for the new hardware I bought, but at least I've found a way around an irresolvable issue. I've disabled all the network adapters on both computers.

The throughput is pathetic at this point (just under 15 MB/sec), but I'm making this Time-Warner's problem to fix, and I'll likely never know what the modem/router did that caused both laptop and notebook to simultaneously acquire this problem, but a solution that works is better than nothing. Thanks for your time and effort.

I'll see about this registry entry in Vista, but in one of those odd twists, perhaps the end result is 802.11n connectivity on these laptops as a result of trying to fix an issue and ending up with something that in the long run will be better.